The lives of George and Amarilla Barclay

Menu

Stepping Back In Time: Amarilla’s Life In Iowa Before George!

In recent published posts I have talked about John Keller and Mary Anne Delano Keller who were Amarilla’s grandparents on her mother’s side.

Amarilla was the daughter of Daniel D. Spracklin and Elizabeth Keller. Daniel’s parents were John Andrews Spracklin and Lydia Goss. Daniel and Elizabeth had 4 children. By 1860 Elizabeth had passed. She had died in 1859 just months after Amarilla’s birth.

Elizabeth Spracklin's Tombstone , Titler Cemetery, Iowa

A thorough page by page search of the Iowa census was attempted but Daniel was not found. Amarilla does appear in the 1860 Iowa census in Benton County, Iowa but she is not with her father Daniel? She is with her sister Mary and another family.

It is my belief that this is Mary and Amarilla even though the spelling is different. The ages are correct and the location is close. As for the Shelley family, I do not know what their relationship to Daniel maybe. The Spracklins and the Kellers are large families and this could easily be relatives that I do not have knowledge of. They could also just be neighbors and friends helping out.

The other interesting fact is that Henry, the older brother is also displaced and living with another family in 1860. In this case it is his Aunt Olive a sister of Daniel’s.

There is no sign of Amarilla’s father. I did a house by house search of the township and there were lots of houses that were empty. I even searched in Ohio to see if Daniel had gone back to his home in Knox County, Ohio because his father John Andrews Spracklin had died in 1862. I cannot find him.

Benton County 1872

So the death of Elizabeth Keller Spracklin in 1859 really created a temporary scattering of the family of Daniel D. Spracklin at that time. There does not appear to be any evidence that he joined the fight and enlisted in the Civil War.

By 1870 Daniel is back in the census and he is remarried to Sarah. He has Henry and Amarilla with him from his first marriage. Emily is Sarah’s daughter from her first marriage. Sister Mary died on the 27th of September 1861. This death must have affected Amarilla even though she was very young.

By 1870, Sarah and Daniel have started to have a family of their own. The other children: Lydia, Birdie H (Virda), Reed A. are of the 2nd family.

There are other names listed under the notation for Daniel in 1870. Nelson, Peter 26, farmer with 600 value of personal estate from Denmark, Nelson, Hardie 26 keeping house, from Denmark, Nelson, Andrew 1 yr. born in Iowa, Nelson, Peter 5/12 yr. born in Iowa, all have parentage that are foreign birth, Frederickson, Ann 8, from Denmark, Anderson, Peter 23, laborer Denmark, both with parentage foreign.

Daniel remarried on 21 November 1863 to Sarah Blacketer Allgood in Marengo, Iowa Co., Iowa. He is still living in LeRoy Twp. in Benton County, Iowa but that will change. Amarilla was 5 years old when he marries Sarah. She may be young but old enough to know that something has happened.

Daniel's Land in Leroy Twp., Benton County, Iowa

In the closeup of the Benton Co. Atlas Daniel’s land is in two parts of 40 acres each. There is a double line almost in the middle and Daniel’s land is on the left of the line under the School. There is a dot showing this piece of land. The other land is to the right on the other side of the double line with another dot next to a Case and below A. Justus. Which piece of land Daniel had his house located on is not known. This is why Amarilla’s great-granddaughter, the writer of this blog, believes she was born nearer to Blairstown. Daniel did not move to Iowa County, Iowa 20 miles south till after 1872. Amarilla was born in November of 1858.

If you go back to the 1856 Iowa State Census you will find interesting things going on. Daniel is not mentioned in published indexes for this census but he is definitely there and he and Elizabeth and their son Henry are living next to Blacketers, and Daniel’s sister Olive Merrifield and her family.

1856 Iowa State Census

So Amarilla’s beginnings are a bit precarious. She looses her mother at a very early age, a sister dies and she is separated from her brother and father for maybe a year or two? Then her father returns to marry a stranger. This is a lot for a 5-year-old to take in.

Miriam, Amarilla’s granddaughter writes: “Amarilla (Ammarilla, sometimes she varied it) belonged to the first family, hated the second and left home. Supported herself as a seamstress. Married George Angus Barclay in Brainard, Minn. He had land…”

2 thoughts on “Stepping Back In Time: Amarilla’s Life In Iowa Before George!”

Hello: I know that there are Kellers there, Goss, and other family. The Keller connection I do not yet understand. I do believe that Daniel went there with his family in mind but that there were others that could have been on Elizabeth’s side. Seems to me one was a Nancy Keller. I would have to go back to my notes and study them. Glad to hear from you cousin!

Things to Ponder

Time to update my theme as of 5/23/2015. Enjoy!

The Header is a picture of Pine River, courtesy of the city of Pine River.

KELLER DESCENDANTS of John and Mary (Delano) Keller. Over the past year of 2014 and currently in 2015 I have been posting about the descendants of John and Mary on my Solomon Goss of Fearing Twp., In Ohio blog (see the link below). The Surnames are: Keller, Delano, Spracklin, Evertts, Helt, Pearl, Wintermute, Barr, Van Houten, Carson, Shaffer, Kees, Lacy, Riblet and much more. Cousins are sharing on that Solomon Goss Blog. More information has come to light about these families.

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Blog Anniversary

This blog was started on March 10, 2010.

COPYRIGHT

You may NOT use the contents of this site for commercial purposes, publishing on the web or in a book without explicit permission from the author and blog owner. Commercial purposes includes blogs with ads and income generating features, and/or blogs or sites using feed content as a replacement for original content. Full content usage is not permitted.